On Halloween night, Captain Eve’s ship set sail from London Harbour to a nightmarish island where no man had dared set foot upon. It was known as Deadman’s Fork, a place where wronged souls roamed in vengeance and despair.

Captain Eve was a daring young woman who wanted to conquer places where other pirates dared not go. She was also determined to bury her treasure there since it was the one place where it would remain untouched and only the bravest of all men would be able to retrieve it.

It was a tough journey there, with many challenges along the way. They were attacked by mermen and enemy pirates, hit by storms so that a few of her crew died, but Captain Eve kept going. She had started off with 20 men but was now left with only 15. Twenty days and 21 nights had passed and the men were beginning to lose hope, until it finally happened.

It was a regular day at ship, some stared out into the sea, others were playing cards and losing a lot of money in the process, some were even sword-fighting for food as they had very little ration left. The seamen had a big appetite. As the clock struck midnight, suddenly everyone on the ship rushed to the deck.

The ship rocked like it had never before, in a storm worse than any storm the crew had ever faced. They shouted and jumped overboard trying to save themselves. Never had they felt such fear. The waves swallowed the ship, wrecking and tearing at it. Faint laughter could be heard in the distance.

Captain Eve tried to save her crew like any good leader, but it was pointless. Half of them were already dead. So she took her treasure and jumped, holding on to it for dear life.

Her eyes widened as she saw why the boat had been swallowed up. An island black as the night and darker than her worst nightmares rose from the pit of the sea. It seemed to be a wasteland. It truly was as bad as it had been rumoured to be. She could see why no man had ever come back from there.

She swam towards it anyway. She would complete her mission even if it cost her life. She blinked the water out of her eyes and even choked on some. She felt for her sword, but it was gone. She was alone and unarmed, the worst thing for a pirate to be.

As she walked cautiously through the wasteland, there were human and animal bones strewn everywhere and even some blood. Swallowing her fear, she cautiously ventured on like a true heroin with her head held high. But her bravery didn’t last long as she was attacked by the most fearful creatures you could imagine. They had soulless eyes and you could see the bones through their skin. She let out a high-pitched scream and swung around the treasure chest trying to fend them off. The truth is that the scream was enough for them!

Taken aback by the strange new creature, they stepped back. Captain Eve took this opportunity to run, but the creatures followed swiftly. Taken by fear, she ran wildly. Her hair got trapped in tree trunks and her knees scraped with blood oozing as she fell down. She screamed again and scrambled to her feet. She jumped into a bush and started digging with her hands. She would bury the treasure and swim away. She managed to bury the treasure, but she never got off the island.

A year passed since Captain Eve’s ship had set sail, but she still hadn’t returned. Rumours started about what could have happened to her. A hairy six-legged beast might have sucked her blood out or a vampire may have torn away her flesh. Many stories were written about it.

Finally, a hundred years passed. It was 1904 and London had changed immensely. Researchers were digging around an old London library when a young man found some old story books and glanced through them with no peculiar interest. They seemed to be children’s stories and nothing more, except for a map in one of the books — the map of Deadman’s Fork.

It turned out that one man from Captain Eve’s crew had somehow survived and drawn a map. He had been rescued by sailors from the north and had become quite rich and famous afterwards.

The young archaeologist, curious about his discovery, set sail. He followed the directions of the map accurately and, thanks to modern ships, reached the island in no less than 15 days. The island was barren as always, but it had no creatures and monsters as told in the stories.

Along with two other men, the archaeologist dug for the treasure that was supposedly hidden on the island, according to the stories. They found it eventually after much scouring and adventure.

In the chest were jewels and gold worth millions of dollars and the young archaeologist became super rich. But there was something else in the chest, a picture of Captain Eve and a good-looking young man with a moustache. Strangely enough, this was the same picture that he had seen in his family album.

Published in Dawn, Young World, October 19th, 2019